Flips, trips, bends and breaks.

[Vega]

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7th Cylus 717

Thus far, should a young man of his age and leg-gnawing tendencies notice such, Vega had always worn skirts. It seemed to be her preference although she wore them with thick stockings and socks under them, which was probably why. However, on this trial Arlo had agreed to teach her gymnastics and so, when she returned to camp from wherever she'd been that morning, she was wearing a pair of trousers. Loose and comfortable, tied tightly at her waist she wore her thigh high boots under them so that she kept warm.

"Sorry about that." Vega started and then looked at the bleary eyed youth with a despairing glance. "You've only just hauled yourself out of your bedroll, haven't you? Is that breakfast? Yum." All was immediately forgiven as she grabbed a bowl and served herself some warm porridge, sitting down opposite him. "You said you were going to teach me acrobatics, so I thought I'd better get myself some new trousers."

Apparently, for whatever reason, this had been a cause of some consternation. The evening before, Vega had emptied out her pack twice, cursing in Rakahi as she did so. Any attempts to help had been refused, albeit very (very very) politely, the young woman's gaze making it very plain that she wanted no interference. Still, she'd either found what she was looking for or given up on such and eaten in good enough humour. However, she'd been up and out early that morning.

"Where are we going to do this?" Vega asked, once she and Arlo had eaten. "And what do I need to bring with me? You've got the imaginative manner of swordplay teaching to live up to, remember." She was teasing, mostly, but she couldn't deny how much she was looking forward to learning a new physical skill. It was where her talents were, she knew, and she enjoyed learning them.

So, as they made their way out of the camp, Vega shouldered her bag, which had whatever he'd told her she'd need and a few other things besides. "On the way here, I stopped off at a place, some docks somewhere. We had an evening there and I was playing cards. I'm pretty good at that, so I was hoping to make a bit of money. Anyhow, there was a guy there and he was obviously thinking that he'd be getting lucky because I was drinking. So he said that he could beat me at cards." Vega shrugged and shot Arlo a grin. "It happens more than you'd think. Anyhow, he said that if he won then he'd buy me drinks all night, but I had to give him an item of my clothing. I agreed, figuring it was totally worth it."

As they walked, she grinned in the memory. "So, I lost. Did it on purpose, but in fairness might have anyhow. Anyhow, I got free drinks all night, went to my room alone by my own choosing, thanks very much and gave him an item of my clothing."

With a chuckle, she looked around at where he'd decided to set them up to teach her tumbling and Vega grinned and nodded. Just in case her lateness needed further explanation, or her cursing of the night before, she added, just before moving in to the area and giving him a glance which was more than a little intrigued as to what he had planned. Copying his phrase from the trial before, but ironically equally true for her as it had been for him.

"And that's how I lost my pants."

[Arlo Creede]

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It was good that Vega decided on trousers that trial. Arlo hadn't seen her wear them before. For what he had in mind, a dress would get in the way, might tangle round her legs, her arms or even her head, and then there was her modesty to consider. Still, he hadn't expected her to be away that morning, or at least had forgotten she would be, and was waiting on her when she returned.

"You're late," he grumbled, but with a smile as he handed her a bowl. "I've been up for a break or more." He hadn't, but she didn't need to know it. "I've got what we need already," Arlo told her then as they headed out. He hadn't seemed to have brought much along except a folded up blanket, a long coil of rope, and he was armed, just in case. "There's a clearing not far from here, just off the path. Ground's fairly flat there too,"[/i] he said as they neared the spot he had in mind.

"What game?" he asked when she began to tell him about cards in some unnamed port. He hadn't played often, just with a random traveler or two around a campfire. But the game wasn't the point of the story after all. The point was...How she'd lost her pants? "You're making that up," Arlo accused her with a grin. But something made him think that she wasn't.

He laughed, shook his head and dropped his rucksack and the coil of rope at the edge of the clearing. "Well the first thing, just like sword training, is to loosen up a little. Stretch a little," he advised. "Arms, legs, back...Roll over from the hips and grab hold of your toes if you can, hold them a few seconds, bounce a little."

He'd do the same while she warmed up, and when she was ready, he'd consider, what first? "Some of the beginning moves I can teach you, are just simplified versions of more advanced ones. They teach you about momentum, the way your body moves and responds. For instance, a somersault, which most three arc olds can do, leads to a flip come of forward motion, and later, one from a still position. I'm sure you've done somersaults, right?" he said as he unfolded the blanket and spread it out on the ground. Just rolling top over end, he explained, in a tucked position, knees to chest.

It might have been a while for her, so he'd give her a moment if she wanted to remind herself. But then he'd move quickly on. Somersaults, not very challenging after all. "A cartwheel, done right, is a little trickier," he told Vega, thinking already that she'd be grateful she'd opted for trousers. "The name's about right, considering the way it looks in motion." To demonstrate, Arlo pulled off a handful of the maneuvers across the open ground, tumbling head over foot, and foot over head several times, always vertical to the ground and appearing much like a cart's wheel rolling across the grass. He'd lost his hat too, somewhere around the first turn.

"It takes practice. Not as easy as it looks. But give it a try," he offered, before explaining exactly how it was done. Begin with a lunge using the favorite foot, he told her, in the front while extending her arms over her head. She ought follow by shifting her weight that same leg, then place her hands on the ground one at a time. The first hand down ought be on the same side as the starting foot. Kick the legs up in a handstand, keeping the body sideways. At that point, he added, the legs ought form a V in the air. Then feet down like an inverted V. But remember that the first leg to come down was the last to go up.

It was easier to do than explain, he thought. And easier to imagine oneself doing it properly, than actually doing it. Most folks ended up leaning or falling over sideways till they got the hang of moving their weight properly. But if she didn't mind him putting his hands at her waist, he'd help her through the first bit of it to keep her going straight.

[Vega]

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"I am not. I'm right on time, look, food's ready." Vega quirked a grin at him as he grumbled at her. "You wake up on the wrong side of the log this morning? You alright?" He'd been up for a break or more? She looked at him and shook her head. "I don't believe you. After a break, you'd have wiped the sleep out of your eye and you'd have noticed the drool stain on your cheek, too." Whilst the vestiges of sleep did still remain in his expression, neither of those things were actually true, but she didn't mind giving it a quick shot.

As they wandered out together, she glanced at what he was carrying, but she didn't ask any questions. There was no point, he'd only make up some outrageous story which she couldn't believe, or he'd tell her the truth which she wouldn't believe so she didn't ask. Speaking of which, he didn't believe her story? Vega lifted her hand to her chest, grasping dramatically. "Making it up? You wound me, Arlo Creede. I swear to you, it's true. We were playing...." She paused and then gave him a wicked smile. "It was a game for grown ups, you wouldn't know it." Doubt the truth of her story, indeed. She couldn't maintain it with him though and she shrugged. "Poker, Chase, Pixie. I lost my pants to a game of Stillwater, though, the bloody shame of it." She seemed, and was, quite genuine. Her grin was wicked when she added. "And he spent more on drinks than I did on these trousers, I tell you. Plus, taught the dirtbag a lesson without him having to bleed. All good."

Making their way out in a companionable silence, Vega looked around the clearing and nodded. Warm up, that was good, she was happy to do it. "Righteo," was her only response and she got on with it. There was a series of exercises which she'd done before training every trial for many arcs and she went through them now. She kept an eye on Arlo, though, watching what he was doing. "One of the things I've discovered," she said, stretching her arms, one pulling the other across her body, "is that repetition is good, but longevity isn't. I need to vary this routine, push myself more. Stagnant is bad."

He asked about somersaults and she grinned and nodded. "Aye." She practised a few times, though, just in case there was something wrong with her technique. Then, talked about cartwheels and Vega watched him move with a wide grin on her face, then solemnly handed him his hat. "You dropped this. This is why mine is better. It's got ties under my chin and it keeps my ears warm. The student has become the hat master, you know. Alright. That looks tricky. It's keeping straight whilst in momentum and it's momentum in a direction we're not used to. I'll give it a try."

When he explained it she looked at him and shook her head. "I don't get it. But that's alright, I saw what you did. So, I'm going to fall over ok?" When he said that he'd hold her waist, she shook her head. "I don't want to learn to rely on you, and I need to feel what the right and wrong balance feels like. Let me try it without you first, a few times, then help me?"

Her natural balance was good, there was no doubting it and the grace that she was still growing into helped. However, that only went so far and she fell on the first go with a squeal and then a laugh. "How glad am I that I bought new trousers? That would have been pain and humiliation all in one go. Just like a first date. Right. I was already leaning forward, wasn't I? By the time my hand hit the ground, my doom was inevitable. Woe."

She tried again and twice more after. In none of those times did she get it right and each time she ended up sitting on the ground with a wry expression or a chuckle. What she did do, though, was feel what her body was doing. Vega was, had always been, a very physical person and she had a good awareness of her own physicality. So, consequently, each time she adjusted and each time she got better. Four tries later, wiping her trousers down as she stood up, again, she nodded. "I'm going to some dancing classes tomorrow. I thought it'd be a laugh. Want to come? If I'm going to have to partner up with someone shorter than me, at least it could be someone with a chance of outgrowing me still." She shot a grin to him, "we can embrace our inner hey-nonny-nonny."

Having caught her breath, she nodded. "I know what I've got to do. I know what it feels like, what it should feel like. Will you help me now?" She really wasn't concerned about his hands on her waist, he was far too young to be thinking about anything she'd have to head butt him for, so that was fine. With his help, finally, she managed it and as she landed in a standing position she gave a whoop of pleasure. "I did it! Badly and with a significant wobble that you adjusted, but I did it! Alright, gerrof, I can do it myself now." Which, with a few more tries, another couple of falls but an improvement every time, it turned out she could. Her eyes had been all sorts of colours throughout that, but when she performed her first reasonable cartwheel, Vega's eyes were mostly a deep purple with flecks of gold in them. She was flushed from the exercise but also from her delight and she grinned at him. Then, she waggled her head where her hat had remained firmly tied in place. "See? It's a good hat."

[Arlo Creede]

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A game for grown ups? Wouldn't understand? She might be surprised, Arlo thought, but had kept it to himself. For some reason it gave Vega a strange sort of pleasure to imagine him younger and less experienced than he was. And while he'd lock horns with her over just about anything else, in good fun for the most part, he'd let her have that one.

Repetition, good, stagnation bad. Arlo agreed and that applied to just about anything, including what he was teaching her now. There was nothing wrong with her cartwheels at any rate, though he'd encourage her to try a few of them backwards as well. Getting used to doing those would come in handy later on. "Your hat might stay on better," he conceded when she handed his back. "But mine's got more style. Those flaps look like an elephant's ears, cinched up beneath it's chin." So, cartwheels. She'd seen him do them, he'd told her how. Then it was time for her to try them herself.

She'd inevitably topple over sideways a few times, or stumble through her landing. But Vega was already strong and flexible. Her balance was good and those things would do her a great deal of good. She improved quickly. But when she mentioned dancing, Arlo frowned. "I don't know what nonny nonny is, but I'm pretty sure I don't have any," he insisted. "What kind of dancing? I can't see any use for the sort of dancing people do in ballrooms out here."

Maybe, he'd concluded, while she improved at doing cartwheels. Meanwhile, if she wanted help, he'd help by keeping his hands near her waist for support. She didn't need to worry after all. They'd developed a friendship and a sort of sibling rivalry that didn't quite line up with any other notions. Besides, she was much too long in the tooth for Arlo's tastes. And when she'd finally mastered it, he grinned widely. "You did, and with good form too."

And now that she'd learned that one, he told her, as a result the next ought be much easier than might have been. "Now try them again, but instead of rotating through the turns sideways, you'll be doing it forwards instead." He did a few himself, just to show her what he meant. The mechanics were much the same, but it looked as if he was going to do a headstand instead. Except that once he was in the vertical position, head towards the ground between his arms, he didn't stay here.

He let his momentum do the work of continuing the rotation and once he was past the center point, feet in the air, he arched his frame and bent his knees so that he'd land on his feet. And then he straightened again and urged her to try. "Getting yourself in the feet up position isn't the hardest part. Rotating past it isn't either. It's much like cartwheels that way. It's landing backwards on your feet and then straightening again. That's the trick."

And because he wasn't going to risk her crashing to the ground on her back if something went wrong, he'd be there to lend support once she passed the tipping point of the headstand.

[Vega]

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"Well, whilst that might be true," she admitted of her hat with a shrug, "it is also worth to note that this particular heffalump has got two advantages over you. Warm ears and a hat that stays on. Three advantages if you include the good sense not to call a lady the name of a fat animal." With a friendly, and very light in case she hurt him, punch to the shoulder she shook her head. "Style over substance. Just when I was starting to think you might grow into a reasonable person, too. Shame." She was teasing, of course, but really? An elephant?

He didn't know what hey-nonny-nonny was and Vega rolled her eyes. "It's this lot. This place. All the serenity and peacefulness. It's like... soothing gentle music, sweeping majestic tree lines, serene gatherings of the elders and being surrounded by three hundred vegetarians who only wear shoes in Cylus cos amputated toes mean they can't swirl in delight while humming a tune." Did he really not know, she wondered, or was he winding her up? "It's the state of being all peace-filled and lacking any real... rawr." She mock-snarled the last bit and clutched her hand into a fist. "Serenity, not fire. Gentle melodies not bawdy sea-shanties. But apparently," she grinned at him, "this dance teacher doesn't teach formal stuff. It's all drums and earthy beats. Getting down and dancing. Letting go. Besides, it'll help with this sort of stuff, won't it?" She gave a slight shrug. "I'm gonna go, give it a try. I think it'll be a laugh and I've got nothing better to do tomorrow. You're welcome to join me if you're game enough."

Vega was delighted when she'd gotten the hang of the cartwheel and her grin matched his. "Not great, but it'll get better." She'd practice it till it did, she was quite determined. Then, though, it was on to a forward one and Vega raised her eyebrow. "Really? Ok, so that looks like the important thing to do is not stop, because of momentum. If I fall, I'm going to break my back. Don't let me do that, will you?"

She frowned slightly and was about to start the move when she stopped and shook her head, slightly. "No. Not doing it nervously, that's a stupid thing to do. Right, shake that out." She did, literally, stand and shake herself, from toes to arms and then she was back to her usual borderline-overconfident self.

Launching herself into the move, she did pretty well in the moving forwards part, getting herself to the point that her legs were straight over her head, then her feet on the ground. She lifted herself up, but she hesitated just a trill and it was more than enough that she fell, awkwardly. Thankfully, he was there and so she didn't hurt herself, but the deep frown on her face was a long way from the laugh she let out when she'd fallen during the cartwheel. "Damnit. I knew I was going to do it, too. Which is why I did, of course. Why'd you tell me it was hard?" Clambering up, Vega narrowed her eyes slightly and nodded her head. "Alright. Again."

It took longer than the cartwheels had, without a doubt. It was when, though, she got it wrong and fell and he wasn't quite quick enough to catch her that she landed and let out a chortle of amusement. In that moment her attitude to it changed. It seemed that, when she fell under her own steam, even though she'd undoubtedly have a bruise on her side the next trial, she got more confident and from there, she got better. Until, eventually, she did it on her own and, as she stood from it she paused for just a split second then tumbled forward into a somersault before standing and flourishing a very over-the top bow.

"In your face can't do it!!" Vega exclaimed with a grin. She wasn't directing that at Arlo, just fate generally. "U'frek's socks, Arlo, that one's hard. How was my form, was it alright? I was going to cartwheel, just to show off, but then I thought I'd probably break my ankle or something, knowing my luck."

[Arlo Creede]

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"Well I didn't say you were an elephant or looked like one," Arlo argued. It was the finer points that counted after all. "It's the flaps." Point taken though. Never compare a lady to an elephant. Right.

"It's not exactly the kind of phrase thrown around among farmers, you know," the young man pointed out when she explained what she'd meant. "But maybe there's something in the air, or the water that makes them that way." The Sev'ryn struck him as a decent lot, and they'd been welcoming and kind to him as an outsider before. But if there was anything in the food or water, he'd rather not indulge. It might leave him to be content staying put, and stop his wandering ways.

He still wasn't convinced, regarding the dancing. On the other hand she made a good point. It might actually help with flexibility. He might even learn some new moves. "Maybe," he considered, frowning and struggling with indecision. "Alright then," he finally agreed. "I'll give it a go. It won't hurt to try it once."

He was impressed by how quickly she'd picked up the cartwheels. Forward ones were a little trickier to get the hang of though, which Vega would soon discover. "Because it is hard," he pointed out. "And it won't do any good to have any false illusions about it." But even when she managed to topple over, and him not being quick enough to catch her, she figured it out quickly enough.

Still, the young man watched her manage it, then take a bow, and he narrowed his gaze. Though all in good fun. "Well as long as we're showing off," he said. Up on his hands, he walked on them a yard or so, came down on his feet again to follow it by several traveling maneuvers, faster at the end before performing a flip, all of him off the ground before landing on his feet. Then he grinned, pleased with himself before picking up the long coil of rope he'd brought with him.

A shorter piece, wrapped all round in cloth, he handed to Vega. "I think you'll like this one. And no chance of getting hurt in the process. Tie that around your waist, like a belt. But not too tight. Leave a little give in it." And while she did that, with the coil of rope slung round his shoulder, Arlo scuttled up the nearest tree. Draping the middle of the rope across the distance between two, suitably flexible branches and tying it off on both, he let the two ends drop down to Vega.

While he climbed down again, he called out, "Tie off one end to each side of the belt, and adjust the length so it tugs up on you a little, but just lets your toes touch the ground." And when he joined her, he asked her to lift her feet, let the ropes support her, and made sure she wouldn't sag too close to the ground. "Flips," he explained with a grin. "First, keeping your body straight as possible, lean forward to shift your weight, so that it lifts your feet off the ground...Like you're flying," Arlo suggested.

"You won't be in that position during an ordinary flip, but it will help you get a feel for being off the ground and in balance. Then once you're comfortable with that, tuck your knees in to your chest, fold your arms in, tuck your chin and carry on over forward until you set your feet on the ground." He'd checked, and her head would clear the ground by a foot or more. But he'd still be there to make sure.

Then once she was comfortable with that, he'd suggest that she go again, but this time, push herself up from the ground, up into a tucked position, do a roll in the air and then come down on her toes, then feet.

[Vega]

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"Just as a point, Arlo, if the best you can defend yourself with is 'I didn't say you looked like an elephant', you are probably out of legs to stand on." Vega grinned at him and shrugged. He was incorrigible, wicked and absolutely unapologetic. But then, he was seventeen and that said all the same things in far less words. Plus, her sense of self esteem wasn't going to be bothered by his hat critique. "Besides you're just jealous of my hat. You know it, I know it. It's alright an' I forgive you." Her grin was pure mischief, he did love his hat.

He agreed to come to the dancing class the next trial and Vega grinned. "Great. It'll be fun. I'm going to go to that library you told me about too. I met my aunt," she said, casually. So casually that it would fool no one. "She's got hair just like mine. So that's where that comes from. Not got the height though, has to be said. Short. Like you." It was poor, but she had to keep up appearances after all. "But anyhow, yeah, my.. Ọwọpọ, my mother was short too. My beasut Najina, beasut means aunt and her name is Najina, she gave me some of her things. Journals, all written in this Xanthea, of course. So, I'm going to learn it. I'll show you them when we get back if you're interested, she wrote all her life. I do, I always keep a journal always have, but I didn't know that about her." Vega grinned at him and shrugged slightly, but the deep emotion she felt was illustrated in the deep liquid gold of her eyes. That was the only thing that was constant in terms of her eyes, gold meant that whatever she was feeling, she was feeling it a lot. "She wasn't like them, apparently. Always, off here and there and seeking adventure. Wild spirited and free."

Jumping up, Vega shook her head slightly and got on with this forward tumbling malarkey. It was hard she agreed, but she stuck with it and was pleased. When he out did her bow with his own she let out a deep laugh. "You are such a bloody show off, Arlo Creede. Lost your hat again, though." Tugging the ties under her chin undone, she waggled her earflaps at him and then retied hers. "Lose most of your heat through your head, you know. It's true."

He was completely right, she loved the next thing he had planned. She tied off the ropes and lifted her feet off the ground, first one, then when she had her balance there, the other. "We used to do something just like this on the swing on the ship. Especially when you're moving, too, it does feel like flying." This bit, therefore, she did relatively easily, then she tucked herself in, as he instructed and pivoted forward.

A few times, and a few times more until she was satisfied that it was done properly. Then, she jumped, pushing herself up and somersaulting in the air under the tree. Her technique, first time, was wobbly bordering on abysmal but it seemed to be the way she did it. Every time, she corrected something; sometimes she over corrected, but the next time she put it right. Especially in this, the way her mind worked was clear ~ one aspect first, then the next. It was the way to do it. So she worked on getting her body streamlined and closed tight where it needed to be, then on the placement of her legs so that she could push, then land most effectively. Next, she considered her head and how to place it best, when to untuck it from her chest. She wasn't really consciously aware of doing it, but she did it meticulously.

By the time she was happy ish with how she was doing, her cheeks were flushed red and she was grinning from ear to ear... or flap to flap, perhaps. Another good thing about her hat, she considered was that by virtue of staying on her head, it kept her hair out of her way. Win-win. "This is fun. Can I do it without the ropes?"

[Arlo Creede]

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He wasn't quite ready to concede that dancing might be fun. Mostly, as a matter of principle. But Arlo was willing to give it a shot. If was similar to what she'd described, or at least as anticipated, the movements involved might come in handy later on. "I'll know where to put the blame, if I look the fool for doing it, or if there's only women there," the youth warned her.

During a break in their exercises when she told him about locating her aunt, it came as a surprise to Arlo. But an interesting one. He had no hope of ever finding out who his own father was, unless his mother was to suddenly become more forthcoming than she ever had been before. He was interested enough, that he'd overlook the reference to his height. For now.

"I'm glad for you, genuinely," he said. After all she must have taken a chance when coming to Desnind, of discovering nothing at all about her mother. "It's lucky she kept a journal. I'd like to see it." He kept one too, but it was mostly filled with stories he'd heard, places he'd seen or heard about, or details about his dreams. "I guess it means you've inherited your wanderlust from somewhere else then," he added. Probably her father's side, Arlo guessed.

And he wasn't a showoff, he insisted, in spite of her saying so when he'd pulled off a series of more complicated maneuvers. "I'm only showing you what's possible, so long as you practice." And with that, he took his hat and put it firmly back on his head. He grinned though when she compared what they were doing to flying, and he nodded. "I shared my fire with a traveling scholar once, couple of seasons ago. Dull as dirt, really. But he was going on about something called gravity. And the way he explained it, flips in particular, things like that, I guess it's what defying that gravity feels like." He felt it was like a trill or two of being weightless at any rate.

She took to it well and fast. Balancing with her body parallel to the ground came natural enough though the first trill or two would have been spent getting that center point just right. And then she took to the flips like a duck to water and enjoyed them as much. So much, that to Arlo's mind she might get a little too confident before she was ready.

Without the ropes? Arlo shook his head. "Not this trial. And not so long as you're relying on the ropes in any way," he told her and then grinned. "I won't be responsible when you land atop your head and crack your skull open." Flips, either forwards or backwards, he explained, were one of the hardest maneuvers to pull off. Especially from a still position. Traveling ones, like the one he'd done earlier after a series of forward cartwheels, or those done off a surface that sprang away and back, were easier to do.

"To do a traveling or springing flip, you're relying on momentum to see you through it. But from a still position, you're needing to create your own." Much more difficult, and he'd not like to see her try to pull that off without the ropes attached. Meanwhile though, Arlo suggested that it was enough for one trial. Her muscles would ache a bit, just like his own after learning with swords. Another trial maybe, without the ropes, he assured her as they gathered what he'd brought and returned to camp.

[Maltruism]

Come and get your Loot!

(There's plenty more where that came from)

VEGA:

Rewards:

• Story: +5
• Collaboration: +5
• Structure: +5

These points can NOT be used for magic.

Knowledges:

• Acrobatics: Basic Moves are Often Parts of Advanced Moves
• Acrobatics: Best to be Wearing Pants, Not a Dress
• Acrobatics: Cartwheels, Forward and Lateral
• Acrobatics: Do Some Stretching Exercises First
• Acrobatics: Keep Momentum From One Move to the Next
• Arlo Creede: No "Hey Nonny-Nonny" For Him
• Arlo Creede: Takes Ribbing Well
• Detection: Feeling the Adjustments in Your Body's Motions
• Detection: Signs of Waking Recently
• Endurance: Acrobatics Improves Overall Condition
• Etiquette: Inviting Arlo to the Dance
• Rhetoric: "Short" Jokes
• Rhetoric: The Never-Ending Hat Debate
• Storytelling: How You Lost Your Pants Playing Cards
• Strength: Acrobatics Builds Muscle
• Xanthean: Learning Phrases from Your Mother's Journal

Loot:

Nothing to speak of

Loss:

only the argument about hats

Injuries:

Did you do enough stretching? You might have a few pulled muscles.

Fame: 0

This was pretty private, but I have to wonder about the possible fame gained by a woman who is known to lose her pants when she drinks.
The men would surely all call it positive fame, where the women would undoubtedly call it negative.
So I'm stumped...lol

Devotion:

Nothing to speak of

Comments:

All those card games and not one mention of "Suits"?
We discussed Linguistics vs. Language the other day.
Sorry, but what I see here looks pretty Xanthean-specific.

___________________________________________________________

ARLO CREEDE:

Rewards:

• Story: +5
• Collaboration: +5
• Structure: +5

These points can NOT be used for magic.

Knowledges:

• Acrobatics: Teaching Others Helps Keeps You Sharp Too
• Card Games: Poker, Chase, Pixie and Stillwater
• Etiquette: Taking a Joke in Stride
• Language: Xanthean
• Persuasion: Displaying Acrobatics to Encourage a Student
• Rhetoric: "Hey Nonny-Nonny" is Overly Idyllic Serenity
• Rhetoric: "Proper" Insults to Women Do Not Include Elephants
• Rhetoric: The Never-Ending Hat Debate
• Teaching: Keep a Student to One Step at a Time
• Teaching: Physical Teaching Very Different from Academic
• Teaching: Preliminary Exercises are Often Necessary
• Teaching: Rope Suspension to Practice Free-Floating Moves
• Teaching: Spotting to Prevent Student Injuries
• Vega: Lost Her Pants Drinking
• Vega: Usually Wears Skirts
• Xanthean: Hearing a Few Phrases with Translations

Loot:

Nothing to speak of

Loss:

Nope, you managed to keep your hat.

Injuries:

Not unless spotting for an elephant gets you squashed.

Fame: 0

Maybe if you go to the dance,
but it would probably be negative

Devotion:

Nothing to speak of

Comments:

This was a very fun read.
You guys are almost like brother and sister.
So how long has this hat debate been going?
The introduction to Xanthean just means you can start learning it.